8 September 2017 11:51 am
By James Hohmann ·
(c) 2017, The Washington Post · Sep 07, 2017 - In early 2016, as the field of Republican candidates winnowed, Bob Dole said that Donald Trump was preferable to Ted Cruz because he could “probably work with Congress.”
Wednesday, President Trump cut his first big deal with congressional leaders Pelosi and Schumer. Snubbing Republican leaders and his own Treasury secretary, he agreed with Pelosi and Schumer on plans for a three-month bill to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling for the same amount of time.
The president also signaled support for a Democratic push to pass legislation that would shield undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children from deportation. “Chuck and Nancy want to see something happen - and so do I,” Trump said.
Then he flew to North Dakota on Air Force One with Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, declared he really wants to work with her on overhauling the tax code and called her “a good woman.”
As some Trump advisers signaled that this is a sign of what’s to come, Republican leaders on Capitol Hill seethed with anger about all three of these developments. Veteran negotiators in Trump’s adopted party think the freshman president agreed to a bad deal that gives Pelosi and Schumer more leverage. They feel like they’re being boxed in on immigration and being set up as fall guys. And they resent that Trump just gave meaningful air cover to one of the most beatable Democrats in 2018.
Trump called it a “very good” deal.